Resilience

Description

Resilience is a wood-fired sculpture that emerged from drawings, and came to life under the guidance of the loss of my father. I constructed it from slabs of stoneware clay with one thrown element. The literal shape is a heart. And some might say it represents a broken heart; but for me the deeper message lies in the interplay between elements that connect and suggest separation at the same time. It’s what we all experience in countless brief and enduring moments over the course of our lives. The thrown element at the top of the piece represents an over-arching unity in our connection with infinity.

I created the surface by layering Shino slip and finished it with energetic brushwork. The atmospheric firing of the wood kiln forges a brilliant and complex history over the piece of a life well-lived. Firing to 2400 degrees F renders the clay to a metallic, weathered, shield of sorts.